Cooking Hot Dogs In Beer Will Lead To A Faster Flavor Explosion

Hot dog hacks often center around unique things to add, such as crushed potato chips, kimchi, or cranberry sauce. However, we probably pay far less attention to the best ways to cook hot dogs. Sure, you can boil, steam, grill, or fry hot dogs in a pan, but there's not much you can do to jazz up the cooking process. Or is there?

One ingredient can help make even plain hot dogs more exciting if you're willing to spare a splash or two of beer. If you're steaming the hot dogs, including beer in the water adds extra flavor. If you're boiling them, the addition of alcohol may even help to speed up the cooking process. If you fry or bake hot dogs, simply add some beer to the pan. By using beer in place of oil or butter, you will lessen the fat content. Plus, you'll give your franks flavor from whatever style of beer you use. 

We're not sure who came up with the concept of cooking hot dogs in beer, although Wisconsin-style bratwurst recipes have called for braising brats in beer forever, so it's not such a stretch to apply the same method for a similar sausage. However, one restaurant chain took the concept and really ran with it. Lum's was established in Florida in the 1950s and built its reputation on beer-steamed hot dogs. By the 1970s, Lum's had over 400 franchises and even a few overseas outposts. Sadly, the last Lum's closed up shop in 2017 but, thanks to the internet, its hot dog recipe remains. Reportedly, the famous Lum's dog was simmered for 15 minutes in a 2:1 mixture of water and beer flavored with 1 teaspoon each of caraway seeds, garlic powder, and sugar, as well as some chopped onion. The hot dogs were finished with yet another splash of beer and a few minutes on the grill.

If you're interested in recreating this retro recipe or using beer for cooking your hot dogs in other ways, there's no need to sacrifice an expensive microbrew. Instead, spend a few bucks on a cheap six-pack. If you don't care to drink the remaining beer, you can always save it for future hot dog cookery or use it to make beer bread or beer cheese sauce instead.